Hellish Nights
by Odeletta
Summary: AU. Mamoru Chiba is an up-and-coming detective and his latest case happens to be the disappearance of his own wife Usagi. Now he is working days and nights to get her back, but it turns to be much more complicated than a simple disappearance. [This is a darker story and there will be mature themes.]
1. Prologue

"I swear I had not seen him once since I left for work at seven in the morning. He worked across Tokyo, there was no way that we could have possibly met during the day." The feminine voice dripped with emotion, her dark brown orbs pleading with the people that stood in front of her home. She had arrived home to find her poor husband bloodied and dead, or so she claimed for her story. The young detective would have to work to find evidence to confirm her story, even though it could be the absolute truth. But people who committed such grisly crimes such as murder had to leave a trail that was impossible to follow, in a way that it was invisible except for the eyes of the murderer themselves. He did not have a doubt that more than plenty of murderers evaded arrest successfully, leaving those cases unsolved and become frozen over time. As a beginning detective, Mamoru Chiba had vowed not to let a case go unsolved under his belt, though even now he was beginning to realize how tough this career would be, and it was only the beginning of it. But he refused to falter from it, willing to stand up to the task and solve the many cases that came to him, as well as providing for his young, growing family. It could be very tough in this line of work, but the job was certainly worth it for him. Running a hand through his thick, dark hair, Mamoru quietly observed the conversation between the female suspect and another detective, his senior, in deep conversation. Although he did work on cases, he was not so experienced as to take lead on any investigation, even with as much talent as he possessed.

Before he could make another movement, he was looking back into the woman's pallid face, staring into deep, desperate eyes. He studied her closely, not fazed by the soft beauty that she had been blessed with. Soft tresses of magenta fell upon her shoulders in soft waves, and if she had not been so pale because of the situation, he would have guessed that she had a tan as well. Mamoru shook his head and scowled, attempting to bring himself out of those distracting thoughts that he had of her. Though it was hard to think that this small, seemingly gentle woman was actually capable of murder, especially of one that was so dear to her. But then again, anyone was quite capable of murder, even the people who had the biggest hearts and were the kindest to the world. "Emotional blackmail." He quickly turned his dark head to see another one of his seniors, a man by the name of Tsuyoshi, standing to the side near him. "It's quite effective, but I'm sure it won't get to you." It was a statement of confidence in Mamoru himself, even though he was so young that he would still be feeling so many wild emotions. Not that detectives were completely without emotion, rather that they had to be emotionally strong in order to survive in this kind of work. He only nodded in reply to Tsuyoshi and looked down to the papers that he held in his hands, they contained the current information of the investigation that was taking place. "You had come across me as a man who kept his emotions in check, and I certainly was right." Tsuyoshi continued on and ran a hand through his chin length hair, his eyes focused right on the figure studying the documents. Though he could not help but wonder what the other was like outside of work, as he had a young family at his home after all.

"It won't be long until you can go home, Chiba."

Mamoru looked up from what he was reading and tilted his head slightly, gazing back at the other man. Of course he would be one of the ones to be dismissed earlier, having less experience, though it was already late enough for all of them. 'I hope Usako is alright without me, even though she knows what this job takes and is understanding...' He thought to himself, worry pricking him as he checked his phone, having no calls from his wife. Usually she called him once or twice a day to check up on him, and though he missed them, he called her back eventually to reassure her. But there had not been a single call from her that day, giving him good reason to worry about her. 'I hope nothing has happen to her… Especially with the new child coming along...' He bit his lip to the point that it was beginning to gush out small amounts of blood. Suddenly a steely expression came across his features as he reminded himself that he was in the middle of an investigation and had no time to be overly emotional about such things, especially if there was really nothing going on at home. But he certainly had the right to be suspicious and worried, when it was not normal behaviour of his wife. "I certainly hope so…" He murmured in response to the comment and forced a smile to avoid having a frightened feature be noticed by the others. As he reminded himself once more, he simply could not worry about those matters at the moment, when a case of murder was currently sitting upon his plate.

He left the site of the crime only about thirty minutes later but headed over to the station where he operated at before going home to his Usako. It was a hauntingly quiet drive to the station as his thoughts lingered upon the status of his wife. 'What if she's hurt...' He clenched the steering wheel until his knuckles were as pale as they could be, not caring that it was rather painful for even him. 'Or worse...' He blinked twice, dark blue eyes widening in shock at his horrifying thoughts of his Usako dying, without him coming to help her at all. 'No...' He firmly resolved and shook his head, feeling that he would know if she were dead or not. He wasn't usually a superstitious person but he knew that he shared a special bond with the woman and if it were broken, it meant the worst of things. Although he did not know what was happening at his home at the moment, he knew that she wasn't dead/ But it did not stop the dread that was filling him, the longer that he took. He had only arrived at the station and it was too late to go straight home now, seeing that a few other people had saw him pull up into the parking lot. They would expect him to go in, of course, and work on at least a few things, or otherwise they would be suspicious of his activity. Swearing under his breath, Mamoru gathered his few belongings and headed inside.

The clock neared two and the strength to keep his eyelids from shutting on him was nearly overbearing. He'd spent a few hours already at the place and had gotten some work done, but now felt that he really needed to come home. Although his job kept him very late at times, he didn't usually come back after twelve, and he would have expected Usagi call him at least one time. But there was not a single call to him and dread came back to him as he realized that perhaps it was a grave situation after all. 'I shouldn't have come here after all.' He screamed at himself in his mind, not too carefully organizing his work and in a bit too much of a haste. But he was too worried to care about the tidiness of his area, rather focusing his mind on home only, specifically on his wife. Besides he was growing to be so tired that he would not even make it on the road because he was so tired! The worry was the only thing that was keeping himself awake, and even if he wished to, he did not have the time to grab a coffee for a burst of energy just to make it home. "At least.." He muttered the couple of words to himself as he made his way into the silent night with a quick pace to his car. "I don't live that far from here, it should only be a few moments." But in reality, he was only reassuring himself, and knew that it would feel much longer than a few moments to arrive home. "You had better be alright when I get there, Usako!"

As he predicted, the long, unnerving felt so much longer than what it actually was and gave him all sorts of uneasy feelings. The dreadful thoughts from earlier snuck into his mind once again, leaving him pale and almost shaking. He felt as if he were that woman from earlier, though he was not a suspect himself, rather being the opposite. But perhaps that is what she felt, having no contact with her husband during the day, with him being dead without her knowledge. "Or that is what she claims at least." He added quietly, reminding himself that she was a suspect that was quite possibly guilty of the murder of her spouse. It was then that he noticed that he was reaching the neighborhood that he and Usagi residing in, the dark feelings in his stomach not at all settling down. His hands began to feel clammy as he looked out the windows at the other house along nicely and looked without suspicion being in a very safe and rather wealthy part of the city. But anything could happen anywhere and at any time, of all people, he should know those facts. Only a moment later was he pulling into the driveway of his own one story home, frowning at the lack of light in the windows. His wife _always _left the light in the living room on for him whenever he arrived late, but apparently not this night. "Time to face the music." It was as if he were going into some kind of trouble that he would not manage to pull himself out of, at least not alone.

Upon entering the house, Mamoru heard nothing but the wind in the night, tree branches clacking against the windows. Sweat began to pick up on his body at the silence, expecting her to come out and jump on him, hugging him tightly and giving him all sorts of kisses. "Usako, sweetie…" His voice was stifled and he made his way to the master bedroom down a hall, but there had not been a single sign of her coming to surprise him. His movements slowed down until he was in front of the door that lead to the bedroom, his usually smiling expression dimmed into a solemn one. Placing a hand on the door handle, he quietly turned it and pushed open the door in a fluid but slow movement. He turned on the light in the room and gasped loudly at the sight of the bedroom, with him almost shaking in absolute panic. Usagi was simply not there and the worst part of it all was that everything was in place and absolutely normal, as if she had only left the house to go on a trip. Gulping, Mamoru thoroughly searched through their bedroom and bathroom, although it was only to give him diminishing hope that she was there. After no success of finding the woman, he looked through the other rooms of the home with equal success as well. By that time, he was surprised that he had not fallen to absolute madness at not finding his wife not at the home that they shared together. He eventually sat-no fell onto the floor in exhaustion, feeling that his mental state was gradually lowering. He wasn't going mad, but he did not doubt that he would be near madness if he did not do something.

Just as he was about to close his eyes, he heard a ring tone that was oddly similar to Usagi's own on her phone. Realizing that it indeed was her phone, Mamoru sat up quickly and reached for it, looking at who sent the message to her. He squinted his eyes to look at it, his eyes adjusting to the bright screen, not having turned on any other lights in the house besides the one in the bedroom. But there was no contact to be seen as to see who attempted to contact Usagi in this absurd time of the night, but it was not the most worrisome subject of the night. He looked over the text message a couple of times before he felt all blood drain from his face but managed to clutch the phone that held the stunning text message. It had confirmed his fears and he wasn't so sure if he could accept that at the moment, being in a stage of great shock. **She is gone**_. _The message had read in three simple but dreadful words, communicating in the most simple of details of what had happened earlier that day.

Someone had taken _his _Usako and there had been nothing that he could have done about it.


	2. Chapter I

Alone. He had never felt so alone in his life, not even when his parents had died on that terrible day in a car crash. Without Usagi, the world seemed so much quieter and dimmer, frankly, it was quite depressing. Running a hand through his already messy hair, Mamoru heaved an exhausted sigh and closed his darkened eyes. It had been well two days since her disappearance or so he thought at least, he had lost track of time when he began to look into the case of his own wife. Even though it was a personal matter for the most part, it was a job to do as well, and he was highly grateful that they had let him play a major role in the process. But even if they had refused him, he would have risked his own job and life to find her, that much was clear to him. After all she was the most important thing that mattered in his life, there was no close second by far, it was starting to seem that only her well-being was all that mattered now. An 'obsession' they had whispered under their breath as they stalked past him, supposedly deep in his work, but he had heard them all too well but kept his emotions in check with an unnerving ease. He could not afford to fall into such simple comments about himself, not caring at all that his reputation was put on the line for the search of his wife. Nothing really mattered anymore was the conclusion he had reached by the end of the second day of fruitless investigating, but he managed to keep his ever darkening thoughts to himself. It was a very pressing matter to himself, but as he realized soon enough, the very life of Usagi did not matter much to those he worked beside, especially to the younger ones who wanted to face criminals in the face and solve a murder case. As the hours dragged on and more cases to be reported, the significance of his own began to diminish, even though they claimed that the case was just as important as any other case. Who knows what other lies they had told himself and the families of the victims?

Though it seemed that his friend Tsuyoshi, the one senior he was close to, was genuinely interested in helping the seemingly helpless man out. At least he put on a near perfect facade to help Mamoru out, but who knew truths from lies anymore? But if there was anyone else making an effort besides himself of course, it would have to be Tsuyoshi by far. Nearly fifty years old, the man had twenty-five years of service under his belt and looked as if he could be in his mid thirties, and Mamoru was sure that the man did not have plastic surgery. He had chin length navy coloured hair with blazing but intelligent light violet eyes, he certainly had a unique appearance in comparison to the people he usually he spent his free time with. But his most striking feature was the symbol that rested upon his forehead, it was a black crescent shaped moon that was right side up. When questioned about it, Tsuyoshi had merely given a deep laugh and waved it off, claiming it was a birthmark and that several family members had the same marking as well. But Mamoru had never seen any photographs of the man's family and felt reluctant to confirm his claims but went with it nevertheless, it didn't help that the older man was the only one who went out of his way to speak to him at all. Hearing heavy footsteps walking towards him, Mamoru lifted his head to view the very man he had been thinking about earlier and only gave a nod to show him that he recognized him. Before he could refocus himself upon his work, he felt a heavy hand placed upon his shoulder, and he looked back into the sparkling eyes of the older one. "Akaishi-san, is there something you need?" He questioned the other, attempting to be stern, but was too tired to scold the other. Although Tsuyoshi was certainly a mature man and talented, successful detective, he was rather easy-going and genuinely kind. Mamoru had often wondered if he would become like the other when he was older, after years of experience on the job.

"Chiba, why don't you come with me and grab a quick lunch with myself? It looks like you need some nutrition and energy." His voice was filled with both concern and disapproval, knowing what grief and over work did to a man. After all he had been through it himself, when he had been a young man in his thirties.

"I can't, and you of all people should know that… I simply do not have enough time to spare, some other time… Maybe, if I find her."

"There have been no new leads and to be frank, I doubt anything will turn up for quite a while. So why don't you just take a break and come take lunch with myself? I have plenty of time myself, so don't worry about me." His first statement had been more of a command than intended, but it was only for the best.

"...Fine."

When he should be focused on looking for his wife, Mamoru was being taken out to lunch by a superior and friend. He would have resisted if he had not been both mentally and physically exhausted, but Tsuyoshi had put him up to it. He had to give the other man credit for his skills at convincing him to come with him, albeit it was not successful the first few times. Now they were sitting at a rather formal place but it was quiet and he thought it had smelled great as he had walked in. Isolated from other people that had also decided to dine out at the restaurant, he now felt that he could somehow let himself think about other things now. 'But she'll always be at the top of my head, no matter what.' With that thought, he turned his head up to the other that was sitting to the front of him and forced a weak smile. He needed to be in a better mood than he had been, otherwise he might offend the other, and he did not want that at all. "Thank you for lunch, Akaishi-san… I appreciate it very much, I don't regret taking your offer after all." Mamoru nodded slowly, making sure that he properly thanked the man for his kindness, not wanting to be rude to him. After all, he must have been rude enough in this emotional state of his, considering the current predicament he was in. He took in the warm and soothing but strong aroma of coffee that was set in front of him, only God would know how much he really needed it at the moment. He could hear Tsuyoshi chuckle quietly as he watched him take a long sip of the coffee, not fazed by the strongness of it at all.

"Seems like you've been used to coffee before this, Chiba." Tsuyoshi commented before looking back at his own drink at the side, a pink lemonade. For such an experienced and intimidating man, Tsuyoshi certainly had the strangest tastes. But even so, the man remained unfazed at the judgements that were made about him and what he might be associated with, another trait that he had wanted to have when he was older as well. Mamoru sat the mug down quietly and only nodded in response to his comment, noting that the mug was nearly drained of its contents already. Even though he wished not to be rude, Mamoru didn't really have the nerve to be talking at the moment, with the exhaustion finally catching up with him after hours of nearly useless work. How long would it be until he found her again, how long until he could hold her and protect her once more…? Then again there could be a worse outcome for Usagi if he did not reach her in time, leaving him to shudder at the horrified thought. For the remainder of the meal, the younger man remained eerily silent, the horror on his face never quite slipping away from his features. Although he had understood the severity of the situation, he had not let himself consider all of the possibilities that happened or would be happening in the future. Before that moment, he had not realized that there was still a possibility that Usagi could be harmed in the worst of ways, maybe even die in the absolute worst case scenario. After all, not even the best of people possessed the impossible trait of immortality.

Only an hour later Mamoru was back at his desk, rubbing two fingers against his temple in annoyance. A migraine was coming on and too fast, the loudness of the station not helping his state at all. Lunch had remained silent besides for the small comments that the two of them made on the side, with Mamoru forcing the words out, almost as if he had been choking. They had then gone back and just in time as well, there had been an emergency that desperately needed attention. From what he heard, someone had found a mass grave of recently deceased bodies, and that the killer was still on the run, with the police not knowing a single thing on them. When he had asked about the bodies, he had felt sick to his stomach, and was too relieved to know that they were about a week old at least. Although he had felt bad for the victims, his relief at one of the bodies not being Usagi was immense. Though now that he was back into his work, the investigation on the missing Usagi Chiba, he found himself to be more annoyed and pained than ever. "It seems that everyone is a target nowadays." He murmured to himself, having noted that these strings of murders were not in the least connected. One day it had been a rich man that only came to Tokyo to visit his daughter the next day it had been an innocent school girl, with no supposed ties with the man at all. But whatever it was, they'd be on their toes for some time if they did not catch the killer soon enough, otherwise the murders would be piling up. Suddenly Mamoru gave a shrug at his thoughts and merely shook his head, as if that matter had nothing to do with him at all, even though he was supposed to be helping out on occasion. Although quite young and possessing little experience, he was still quite popular among the detectives, though they did not show it at all inside of the cases that they dealt with. But perhaps he could do the same as they had did to them, that would certainly catch their attention. He could pretend that he was actually deeply involved in the case about the murders, when in actuality, he was not doing a single to help them in the least. If they were intelligent enough, they would notice soon enough that he was not helping them, they would have to realize they would need to work with _him _before he made a choice on whether or not to assist in their case.

He decided to move to a quieter area, somewhere besides the current, rowdy place that he was in, so he could actually concentrate. Though if he did not overestimate his own fellow detectives' intelligence, at least one person would be calling him sooner or later. Or if they didn't, so bad for them, they wouldn't be receiving his own assistance anytime soon. He knew how intelligent and skillful he was himself, he knew that he was not overestimating any of his abilities at all. If he were completely honest with himself, he'd had been rather disappointed at the position that he had originally been given when he had just started to work, knowing that his abilities required more challenge than he lingered on his position, knowing the best of the best had to be patient until the best opportunities arrived. After thinking for a few moments, Mamoru shook his head, attempting to quell the ever darkening thoughts in his head. He scolded himself, knowing that he should not ever think of that kind of stuff, especially when using his own _friends, _but it had come to him so easily as well. 'What came over me then…?" He thought to himself with a groan but lingered in the diminishing afternoon, preferring the peace to the loudness that was inside and was about to surround him. But if anyone really did request his presence of any kind, he supposed that he would tend to them, there had been no lead as to what happened to Usagi at all. Muttering a few select choice words, Mamoru clutched the paper in his hands tightly and sighed irritably, not sure of what state his mind was in at the moment.

He wasn't surprised in the least when it was Tsuyoshi of all people to come to retrieve him from his supposed hiding place. Having no calls from not a single person, Mamoru had decided to remain there, out of attention and possibly could rest for a while, But that did not mean that Usagi was out of his thoughts at all, in fact she was the first thing that was on his mind, and would remain so until she returned to his arms. Grumbling under his breath, Mamoru looked up to the older man and tried to arrange his dark his hair so that it was at least presentable to the public. "Do I need to get away from my…" He paused for a moment and looked around at the peaceful area, thinking of words to call it. "Hiding spot now that something has happened?" Tsuyoshi cracked a small smile but shook his head, leaving Mamoru to wonder what the other had wanted from him? Perhaps he had news of Usagi, he looked up to him quickly, not caring that there was the slightest bit hope in his eyes.

"Whoever they are, they won't be willing to give up information about her so quickly." Tsuyoshi duly noted, immediately striking down Mamoru's hope of getting information on his wife. It was unfortunate that this had to happen to them, yes, but he should really be getting a grip by the end of the week. If by then there was no trace of Usagi and investigations proved to be fruitless, it would be yet another unsolved case. But he considered the younger man's mental state, he would not be able to keep a grip on sanity if this kept up, and that would be a terrible loss for all of them. Not only that, but it would be ruining his career as well, proving that he he did not have the mental strength to participate, though it had been much different earlier before the situation came to hand. He had witnessed a situation very similar to this one himself, when he was in his younger years, quite possibly when Mamoru was still a small toddler. But the results at the end of it were not so pretty and he hoped that it would turn out better for the younger man. But then again, his wife was not in his control anymore and there was next to nothing to do about it, even if Tsuyoshi himself had wanted to do everything he could, there was simply nothing to be done. But then again that was life itself, even if you lose something and there was nothing that you could not have done about it, just move on anyways. You would just be wasting your life if you wallowed in pity and blamed yourself for the the tragedy, life would just continue on without you. Tsuyoshi himself had learned that the hard way and had seen the results of someone who did not move on from their loss and continued to blame themselves even into the life of misery.

"Not a surprise." Mamoru said with a bitter frown, his hope breaking apart as if it had just been glass being slammed onto the ground. Tsuyoshi sighed deeply and took a seat by the other one, running a hand through his chin length dark hair. He could not offer the other one comfort, but at least he could distract him from depression. Even from a young age, the man had a way of giving people a lighter mood, even if it was not desired by the other person.

"This might not be the best of situations, but you have to keep your head up, kid, otherwise your inside will destroy you." He knew that Mmoru would continue to ignore him but it was better than nothing.

"So you are telling me that I should be in a good mood, rather than in a state worrying about my missing wife. Are you indirectly saying that I should be glad that I am away from her?"

"Not at all, you've missed my point." Tsuyoshi muttered half to himself, genuinely worried for the other man. It wasn't the worst that he had seen but definitely needed someone to keep an eye on him, otherwise things could go from bad to worse in no time at all.

"So I've begun to miss the points of the simplest statements, as if I was a toddler that was still having trouble understanding his parents."

"Not at all Chiba, this is just you being exhausted and distraught." Tsuyoshi offered him a tight smile, though that would not change a thing at all. But so long as he was there with him, not much could happen, he'd been highly trained and he had dealt with such things before, both on cases and in personal life. Before he could complete a single word, he was interrupted by an oddly smiling Mamoru, a smile that sent shivers down his back and chilled him to the bone.

"It is as if I am losing my mind."


End file.
